As major tech companies persist in integrating artificial intelligence into every conceivable aspect of our lives, we are regularly confronted with examples of these efforts going awry. A recent instance involves Amazon Prime Video, which has introduced AI-generated dubs to the cherished anime series, Banana Fish. While fans have long awaited English dubs, the execution has been anything but satisfactory.

Those who have listened to the new dubs have been less than impressed. The AI-generated voices offer a performance that makes even the most basic digital assistants sound like seasoned actors. While technically in English, the delivery lacks any semblance of human nuance, sparking outrage among fans of Banana Fish, anime enthusiasts, and anyone who values the art of voice acting.

Amazon’s decision to replace human voice actors, who earn around $75 per hour, with AI technology for a project that might cost about $50,000 seems pennywise and pound foolish, especially for a corporation valued in the trillions. The fact that this cost-cutting measure has resulted in such glaringly subpar quality only adds insult to injury. Voice actor and dub producer Daman Mills captured the sentiment perfectly in a viral tweet, which amassed 47,000 likes and 3.3 million views on Twitter.

“Shame on you @amazon @PrimeVideo. After years of fans hoping for an English dub of Banana Fish, you give it to us as AI-generated garbage?” Mills wrote. “It’s disrespectful as hell. Was a queer trauma narrative handed to a machine because paying real actors is too hard? Fix this, or I personally will not work with you as an actor EVER AGAIN on any of your dubs. This is not ‘the future.’ This is erasure.”

It’s disrespectful as hell. Was a queer trauma narrative handed to a machine because paying real actors is too hard? Fix this, or I personally will not work with you as an actor EVER AGAIN on any of your dubs. This is not ‘the future.’ This is erasure.”

This is not the first time Amazon has done something like this. It has been attempting this feature under the radar for a while now. Back in February, Amazon Prime dubbed the Portuguese of O Silêncio de Marcos Tremmer and the result is…

Banana Fish, however, is a much more widely known series, and that has sparked the widespread backlash to the move. Despite the fact that there is always pro and anti-AI sparring for things like this, the end result is so bad that even if you think AI could do voicework on projects, it is difficult to say this end result is in anyone’s best interest.

The answer, of course, is what many anime fans would say, don’t watch dubs, watch the original with subtitles. I mean, sure, but that’s not really the point here, and you can see where these corporations are attempting to steer things. Sure, this is $75 an hour an actor, but hey, wait, what if we do this with literally every dub we do, and suddenly that’s 10,000 actors? That is no doubt the goal here if this trial pans out. Needless to say, however, it is not, in fact, panning out.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.